PELE may be the world's favourite footballer but he walked into a storm of controversy yesterday over his choice of the greatest living players.

The Brazilian legend had been given the task by FIFA of picking 100 for a book of photographs as part of their centenary celebrations, but only managed to whittle the number down to 125, of whom 50 are current players.

But it is the omissions which have proved so controversial, notably Jairzinho and Gerson from the 1970 World Cup-winning Brazil side and Geoff Hurst, the only man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Jairzinho is the only player to have scored in every single round of a World Cup, while Gerson appeared on Brazilian television yesterday and tore up the list in a display of outrage at the slur.

At the launch of the 'FIFA 100' list in London Pele was bombarded with questions over his choice. Pele defended himself, saying: "It was very diffi-cult choosing - sometimes you have pain in your heart when you have to leave somebody out.

"Everyone has their own favourite 100 players and I just tried to make as few mistakes as possible."

The players have agreed to have pictures taken by leading photographers for a FIFA book.

Only seven players will not be pictured. Holland's Marco van Basten and former German midfielder Uwe Seeler both refused to take part, while five could not be contacted: Diego Maradona, Daniel Passarella, Gerd Muller, Ferenc Puskas and Rivelino.